“7/14/76 ~ just past dawn in canyonland—yesterday i put in the first good day's work since before i went to año nuevo the last time—in about a month. for that long i have either been down on the coast or too wrapped up in susan to do anything else. what a shame. [...] but at least i do have something quite positive and valuable to work for—my cabin on my land. and i've been making some good friends [...]

so. yesterday i finished my water tank and ran the pvc down to the building site. the tank is nearly full now and i have only to make a cover for it. feels good.

~ early evening in canyonland. made the cover for the tank today—had to go to grass valley this morning [...] i borrowed tim's chainsaw to cut down some small oaks for firewood & to try clearing some of the heavy deerbrush where i want my road to go. i feel so alone and wish someone was helping me. [...]”

The trail crew, which Deane Swickard of BLM is trying to bring to our area to work on various trails, has been delayed in Alaska, fighting fires. Meanwhile, Deane requested that some maps be prepared depicting the trails to be worked on, so that an Environmental Assessment can be made of the work. I made a couple of maps up and sent them in to Deane today. Here is the text of the accompanying letter:

Dear Deane,

I have worked up a couple of maps depicting trails which your trail crew might work on. One is titled “Gold Run Diggings South” and two trails are highlighted, marked A and B.

A is that portion of the Giant Gap Trail, climbing from Canyon Creek to near Bogus Point. The portion marked is on BLM land. The trail follows the ridge dividing Canyon Creek from the main canyon. Where possible, the line of the old trail should be recovered; but when this is not possible, every effort should be made to run the switchbacks into the main canyon, to take advantage of the fine views.

B is the Indiana Hill Ditch, from the old reservoir on the south, to Potato Ravine on the north. A portion of the ditch coincides with the Canyon Creek Trail. Where the ditch crossed Potato Ravine on a flume, the trail diverged on the north side of Potato Ravine and bore west into what I call Potato Pass. Possibly this portion of the trail can be reestablished. The entire marked portion of the ditch ought to be brushed, and near the reservoir, perhaps we can move a couple of large boulders into the ditch, to prevent access by motorcycles.

The second map is titled “a portion of Township 15 N, Range 10 E” and shows, somewhat schematically, six sections along the North Fork American, from about Fords Bar on the southwest, to the confluence of Canyon Creek with the North Fork on the northeast. The town of Iowa Hill is just south of Section 28. The road forking off to the Roach Hill hydraulic diggings is shown as a heavy dashed line. From a large flat area along this road the Blue Wing Trail descends to the site of the old toll bridge. A trail diverges from this and leads about one mile downstream. Another trail traverses the old Truro Mine property and leads about two or three miles upstream to Pickering Bar with a possible continuation to Canyon Creek. All three trails need work, especially the Blue Wing, and the upstream trail.

Please let me know if any additional information is required. I hope to join the trail crew on all of these projects, to help lay out the exact courses of the trails, etc.

Other North Fork news: there is a meeting coming up next Tuesday in Auburn, of people interested in working towards Wilderness designation for several roadless areas in Placer County, including the North Fork American. Beecher Room of the Auburn Library, 7:30 p.m.

Cheers,

Russell Towle

[I haven't found the first map described in the post and letter above; below is the second: -Gay ]

Click to enlarge

On July 14, 2002, while researching known petroglyphs within the North Fork American River watershed, Russell obtained this map, put out by the California Dept. of Forestry:

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About this site ~

On September 20, 1975, Russell Towle wrote in his journal...

“twilight in wren shack, wren shack in twilight. just returned from the north fork land, checking it out. it's beautiful ~ the awesome canyon of the american river, with tinker knob (8900') above all at the canyon's head on the sierra crest. there are acorn woodpeckers, hawks, wrens no doubt, incense cedars & ponderosas, sugar pines, black and canyon live oaks, doug fir, digger pine, manzanita, garrya fremontii, deerbrush; there are magnificent cliffs: and tho nothing is perfect (save the All) (there will be logging soon in a wonderful grove beside the river) (and you can hear the train go by) ~ i look forward very much to living there.”

Thus began Russell's 33 years of observing, exploring, living in, studying, and writing about this fantastical place.

﻿

Russell Towle in the narrows of Canyon Creek, 25 February 2006.

I am Gay Wiseman, Russell's partner of 20 years. I've worked on this project in fits and starts since Russell's sudden death in August 2008. Some of the most recent material was posted on his North Fork Trails blog (link in right sidebar) but a great deal of it has never been shared anywhere before.

Included are portions of journal entries, portions of personal correspondence, formal essays, many photographs and some audio and video recordings, as well as links to external sources and selections from Russell's blog posts that will—over the course of a calendar year—provide a revealing and sensitive portrait of this river canyon at the turning of the millennium; of its geology, its beauty, its mystique; of the natural and human history of the region, and of the ongoing threats to its preservation as one of California's few remaining partially wild watercourses.

I still live in the great canyon. I still appreciate every day things that Russell helped me see and know during our years together. I am ever grateful for his determined and diligent effort over so many years to preserve a record of the canyon marvels he was enriched by every single day. I hope you also will enjoy this unique portrait of the grand and glorious canyon, the North Fork of the American River, in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range; and of life lived within it.

Spend a year with us, exploring and loving this place.

Contact email:gwiseman at giantgapmedia.com

Revived!

A regional history with a broad scope, assembled from primary sources, with Towle's incisive commentary interspersed throughout.

Click the book cover to view the book's page on Amazon.com in a separate window.

Originally self-published by Russell in 1994, the book is a 600-page edited collection of primary source material centering on the region of the western Sierra Nevada river canyons and ridges around the small but pivotal settlement town of Dutch Flat, California

The book is also available for purchase through the Golden Drift Museum in Dutch Flat, and for borrowing from local Placer County libraries.

poem

Forever may she flow and flourish, the North Fork American River;Fully may she heal, the American River watershed; High may she lift us, the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range;Whole, may we know her, this Living Earth.